‘Banana republic’

Anzhi Makhachkala have expressed their disappointment over an “idiotic” banana throwing incident involving recent signing Christopher Samba. The Congolese defender had a banana thrown at him from the stands after Sunday’s defeat to Lokomotiv in Moscow. Samba picked up the banana and threw it back. “I hope this incident will become a example of how not to behave for those children who saw it at the arena,” he said afterwards. Lokomotiv president, Olga Smorodskaya, a former graduate of the ‘See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil’ school of public relations, pleaded ignorance of the incident. “There were no incidents at the stadium on Sunday,” Lokomotiv president Olga Smorodskaya said. “I was watching our fans during the match with great attention. They conducted themselves exemplary during and after the match.” Russian Premier League spokesman Sergei Alekseyev said the league would do whatever possible to “change the situation” with regard to the country’s appalling record of racism, but that legal action was not always possible. “The stadium in itself is a democratic environment,” he said. “The police can seize flares, but how can they seize fruit?” he asked.